RESEARCH METHODS

MPC-005
Research Methods in
Psychology
(MPC005)

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Assignment Container: Research Methods in Psychology (MPC005)

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 Content

1 Good Research 1

2 Case Study 4

3 Discourse Analysis 7

4 Research Process 11

5 Estimating Reliability 12

6 Ex-Post Facto Research 14

7 Field Experiment 15

8 Factorial Research Design 17

9 Context of Justification 20

10 Independent and Dependent Variable 20

11 Types of Hypothesis 20

12 Purpose of Sampling 20

13 Issues of Survey Research 21

14 Functions of Research Design 21

15 Quasi experimental design vs True experimental design 21

16 Advantages of correlational research design 22

17 Function of Grounded Theory 22

18 Tacit knowledge 23
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Assignment Container Research Methods in Psychology (MPC-005)

IGNOU MAPC
RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (MPC-005)
Course Code: MPC-005
Assignment Code: MPC-005/ASST/TMA/2019-20
Marks: 100
Last Date of Submission: 30th April 2020 and 30th Sep 2020
SECTION-A

Answer the following question in about 1000 words (wherever applicable) each.

15 x 3 = 45 Marks

Q. No. 1 Discuss the meaning, objectives, criteria and qualities of a good research.
Answer:
Meaning of Research
Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge.
The word research is presented as re+search where re means ‘once again’, ‘new’, ‘fresh’ and
search means ‘to find out’, ‘to look for something or examine closely and carefully’, ‘to look for
information’, ‘to test and try’, ‘to prove’. Thus, research means close and careful examination of
facts and their relationship to discover new knowledge.
The word research came from the French word recherche which means to search closely. Thus,
research means to investigate thoroughly.
Thus, research is one of the unique sources to acquire knowledge and to find out the truth. It is a
systematic process which initiates from truth and leads nearer to truth. It indicates scientific
attitudes and is a combination of experience and logic. It is repetition of any investigation to find
something new or to verify the previous results. After understanding the meaning of research, let
us define research. Research can be defined in many ways because different experts have different
thinking.
The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as “a
careful investigation or inquiry specially through search for new facts in any branch of
knowledge.”
Redman and Mory define research as a “systematized effort to gain new knowledge.”
Some people consider research as a movement, a movement from the unknown to the known. It is
actually a voyage of discovery.

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Assignment Container Research Methods in Psychology (MPC-005)

SECTION-B
Answer the following question in about 400 words each. 5 x 5 = 25 Marks
Q. No. 4 Discuss the steps involved in research process
Answer:

Identify the Problem

Review the Literature

Formulate the Hypotheses

Formulate the Research Design

Data Collection and Data Analysis

Conclusion

Reporting the Research Findings

Step 1 – Identify the Problem

Before a researcher can begin, researcher must choose a topic/problem to study.
Step 2 – Review the Literature
A literature review might involve looking at a considerable amount of written material from both
books and academic journals dating back decades. This background material will also help the
researcher with the first major step in conducting a psychology study — formulating a hypothesis.
Step 3 – Formulate the Hypotheses
While a hypothesis is often described as a hunch or a guess, it is actually much more specific. A
hypothesis can be defined as an educated guess about the relationship between two or more
variables.
Step 4 – Formulate the Research Design
The researcher must also define exactly what each variable is using what are known as operational
definitions. These definitions explain how the variable will be manipulated and measured in the

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Assignment Container Research Methods in Psychology (MPC-005)

• Extraneous variables could confound results due to the reduced control experimenters have
over them in non-artificial environments, which makes it difficult to find truly causal
effects between independent and dependent variables
• Precise replication of the natural environment of field experiments is understandably
difficult, so they have poor reliability, unlike laboratory experiments where the exact
conditions can be recreated
• Field experiments are more susceptible to sample bias, as participants are often not
randomly allocated to experimental conditions (i.e. participants’ groups are already pre-set
rather than randomly assigned) (451 words)

Q. No. 8 Discuss the types, advantages and limitations of factorial research design
Answer:
Factorial experiments may be conducted either within subject or between subject. A mixed
factorial design is also used in psychology. A mixed factorial design is one that has at least one
within subject variable and at least one between subject variable.

• Within Subject Factorial Design

A within-subjects design refers to a study design where two or more measures are obtained from
the same sample, i.e. each subject participates in more than one condition of the experiment This
type of design is also referred to as a repeated measures design. This design is used to make
comparisons of the behavior of the same subjects under different conditions. It is also more likely
to find if independent variable has an effect using within-subjects design.

• Between Subject Factorial Design

A research design in which all independent variables are between subject and each participant is

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Assignment Container Research Methods in Psychology (MPC-005)

• to generate and illustrate the concepts which explain people’s actions regardless of time
and place
Grounded theory does not aim for ‘truth’ but to conceptualize what is going on by using empirical
data. Hence, the results of grounded theories are a set of probability statements about the
relationship between concepts, or an integrated set of conceptual hypotheses developed from
empirical data. (87 Words)
Q. No. 18 Tacit knowledge
Answer: Tacit knowledge is deeply-embedded cultural beliefs which are assumed in a culture’s
way of perceiving the world, so much so that such knowledge is rarely or never discussed explicitly
by members of the culture, but rather must be inferred by the ethnographer.
Tacit knowledge (as opposed to formal, codified or explicit knowledge) is the kind of knowledge
that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalizing it.
(74 Words)

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